View Single Post
  #6  
Old 06-29-2003, 02:28 PM
gmask's Avatar
gmask gmask is offline
Man of many masks
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 777
Quote:
Originally posted by RickInTex
thanks for the advice. i'd looked at the price guides and been thinking of this more in the 3 range, but that's probably optimistic. i'm thinking that it's not worth buying unless the owner is willing to come down quite a lot.

i am going to go ahead and have it checked out, if only to become more educated on these models. so aside from pricing advice, i'm still curious about what systems, parts, functions to examine carefully with the mechanic.

any thoughts, for example, on the thunk from the rear end when coming to a stop? would this be differential? i suppose smoke indicates possibly worn rings.

again, thanks.
The smoke duirng startup is probably a worn valve seal which isn't surprising for a car with 115k on it. Would cost around $150-$300 to get done but the engine topend could probably use a rebuild if you plan to drive it alot..and that will be in the range of $1500-$3000.

So have a compresion test done to see what state the engine is in. Have the camshaft inspected for wear.

Sounds like most of the rubber on this car needs to be replaced. The thunking could simply be worn mounts. You would want to replace all the subframe mounts, differential mounts, drive shaft mounts etc.

Have it checked out if you want to learn more but personally I wouldn't even bother to haggle with the seller.. he is trying to get one over on you. Even if he came down in price this car is a money pit waiting to happen. I'm confident you could get a better car for less... just shop around. If he wanted to sell it for a couple of thousand that would be worth the risk but I doubt he's going to go that low on a consignment.


So things to check for is allways rust.. a car can have a few spots of it but if it has eaten through anything , especially anything structural then it's really badnews.

Engine health, compression check, visual inspection of camshaft
Blue smoke is an oil leak, smoke during a startup is usually valve seals, you might also want to check the dwell as that can indicate other engine health issues. Is the cam on the distributor worn?

White smoke is a blown head gasket

Shocks, if the car has Bilsteins installed and they are in good health you should beable to push the frontend down and it will slowly rise back into place. If the car bounces a few times the shocks are worn out.

Subframe mounts.. If they have black drips coming from them they are cooked and need to replaced.

Enginemounts will be split and have gaps between the rubber and the metal mount in the center if they are worn

Wheels, if you can wobble the wheel top to bottom then the bearings are worn.

Steering, is there play in the steering, are the rubber seals on the balljoints burst

Rear axil : are the axil boots burst?

Does the exhaust system have holes in it? It probably needs to be replaced anyway.. which can cost around $500-$700 for a stainless sytem from timevalve.com

Are the windows seals intact, or the doors seals cracked?

I can't think of anything else..
__________________
MB 72 250 M130.923 114.011 170k The Beauty
Reply With Quote